**Of Drugs and Trypanosomatids: New Tools and Knowledge to Reduce Bottlenecks in Drug Discovery**

**Arijit Bhattacharya <sup>1</sup> , Audrey Corbeil <sup>2</sup> , Rubens L. do Monte-Neto <sup>3</sup> and Christopher Fernandez-Prada 2,\***


Received: 4 June 2020; Accepted: 26 June 2020; Published: 29 June 2020

**Abstract:** Leishmaniasis (*Leishmania* species), sleeping sickness (*Trypanosoma brucei*), and Chagas disease (*Trypanosoma cruzi*) are devastating and globally spread diseases caused by trypanosomatid parasites. At present, drugs for treating trypanosomatid diseases are far from ideal due to host toxicity, elevated cost, limited access, and increasing rates of drug resistance. Technological advances in parasitology, chemistry, and genomics have unlocked new possibilities for novel drug concepts and compound screening technologies that were previously inaccessible. In this perspective, we discuss current models used in drug-discovery cascades targeting trypanosomatids (from in vitro to in vivo approaches), their use and limitations in a biological context, as well as different examples of recently discovered lead compounds.

**Keywords:** trypanosomatids; neglected tropical diseases; *Leishmania*; *Trypanosoma cruzi*; *Trypanosoma brucei*; drug discovery; in vitro models; in vivo models; genomics; drug resistance
